China: Canadian men have been detained
TENSIONS CONTINUE TO RISE Turkey rail crash kills at least nine
CHINA has confirmed it has detained two Canadian men, saying they were detained on suspicion of “endangering national security”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig were taken into custody on Monday.
Mr Lu said Canada has been informed of the detentions, but declined to say whether the men have been provided with lawyers. He said they are being handled separately.
The two cases ratchet up pressure on Canada, which is holding an executive of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei wanted by the US.
China has demanded the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder.
Asked if detentions were related to Meng’s arrest, Mr Lu said they were being handled according to Chinese law.
The detentions raise the stakes in a three-way international dispute also involving Canada and the US.
Mr Lu said Canada was informed about the detentions, and added that the cases are being handled by local bureaus of the national intelligence agency in Beijing, where Mr Kovrig was picked up, and the north-eastern city of Dandong, where Mr Spavor had been living. A high-speed train has hit a railway engine and crashed into a pedestrian overpass at a station in the Turkish capital, killing nine people and injuring 47 others, officials said. The train from Ankara to Konya collided head-on with the engine, Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said.